Colorful: Rialto and Burano

The best time to visit the market next to the Rialto Bridge is early in the morning, or if you just want to look around and not buy anything, then around noon when they are packing up and rinsing everything off. That’s when the seagulls are out in droves, squabbling over the fish remains. The market is definitely worth seeing. Outside, fruits and vegetables are stacked in all colors and sizes. Why on earth are there no delicious fist-sized artichokes, either purple or green, found outside of Italy that simply melt in your mouth when steamed whole?

In the open columned hall covered with dark red translucent tarps (to shield from seagulls or the sun?), the fishmongers gather, and here you find yourself wondering again and again why you have never seen, let alone eaten, such fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, and didn't even know these things existed. Fishing still takes place in the lagoon, and the goods were probably pulled from the sea just the night before. Joking, filleting, advising, and shopping take place, and the merchants eagerly allow themselves to be photographed with their treasures.

Then onward over the lagoon with the Vaporetto to Burano. This island, with its brightly colored houses, is surely one of the cheerfulness places I know. Primarily inhabited by fishermen, it was thought that it would make sense to provide the men with secure landmarks in the often foggy or milky lagoon, so the little houses shine in all bright colors, which has become Burano’s trademark. Every year, the residents lovingly repaint the buildings, giving the whole place the appearance of a lively toy village.

Burano is also famous for its lace made here with painstaking craftsmanship. The women usually work from home, but in many shops, you can also observe them at work.

In the evening, after an unplanned tour around the entire lagoon over Punta Sabbioni and the Lido, I just barely manage to get to the Chiesa della Pieta, where Vivaldi himself worked, to see the Interpreti Veneziani with their wild cellist Davide Amadei and his ensemble of outstanding chamber musicians.

Afterwards, I find myself on the Vaporetto home with the cellist and the first violinist, thanking them for the concert. They get off in Giudecca. Davide carries his precious antique cello in a fabric bag!